In order to better understand the financial situation of the city and the Mayor’s demand of a student tax, it is essential to see the bigger picture. These documents provide the details of what the city can and cannot do – they also shed light on missed opportunities. Councilman Peduto and Controller Lamb have outlined an alternative plan to the Mayor’s proposed student tax – you can read all the documents here – including the Lamb/Peduto alternative.

Mayor Ravenstahl’s 2010 Budget – Understand who is paying and what you are getting.

Pennsylvania Local Tax Enabling Act – Understand the rules of what municipalities can tax and what we cannot.

Act 47 Five Year Recovery Plan – Understand the changes that were approved in July and then look at the Mayor’s proposed budget to see if we are doing it.

PA Act 55 Public Charity Act -Understand the limitations placed on municipalities in PA to receive voluntary payments in lieu of taxes from non-profits and the restrictions to tax non-profits.

Peduto/Lamb Alternative – Another option for our City.

City Councilman Peduto and Controller Lamb today presented a list of potential budget changes that will make up the $15 million shortfall in the city’s 2010 proposed budget. The ICA rejected Mayor Ravenstahl’s proposed student tax, leaving a $15 million hole in the budget. Controller Lamb and Councilman Peduto believe that this shortfall can be made up through other means – through recommendations approved during the Act 47 process and through other good government proposals that will stregthen the city budget and make it more transparent for years to come.

Their plan is available here.

Today Mayor Ravenstahl presented his 2010 budget proposal to City Council.

View the Mayor’s Budget Proposal Here

Last Saturday, Councilman Bill Peduto spoke to the Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania Township Commissioners Association, presenting to them his plan for LED street lights in Pittsburgh.  The organization is made up of council members and other government leaders from local boroughs, whom come together to discuss issues within their respective boroughs.

Councilman Peduto’s goal is to make Pittsburgh a model for LED lighting, which can then spread to the boroughs around the City.   Read more about Councilman Peduto’s plan for LED lighting in Pittsburgh in A Bright, Green Idea for Pittsburgh

View Councilman Peduto’s presentation here.

Last Friday, City Council was given its first look at the G20 budget.  The Mayor’s Office outlined a $16 million plan that would include $10 million from federal grants, $4.3 million from state grants and an additional $1.7 from the city’s capital budget.  The obvious question to everyone in the room was, where is the county?  Upset by this characterization of the budget and the comments from Council – myself included – the County Executive called for a meeting of City and County Council on Monday.  What he presented was a different budget – one that called for $25 million in spending and an unfunded mandate of over $7 million dollars that would have to be made up by the city and county.

Read County Executive Dan Onorato’s the Letter to City Council

Obviously, there was a problem.  The Mayor had submitted to Council a balanced budget of $16 million.  Council was told he had to take action no later than Tuesday in order to make the needed public safety preparations – the clock was ticking.  But, the County Executive told Council that the real budget was $25 million.  Both sides claimed to be correct, but there was little time and a vote was needed to provide the needed resources and minimize any additional costs to the taxpayers.

The Tale of Two Budgets

Late Monday evening, early Tuesday morning and into the afternoon, City Council worked with the Mayor and the Public Safety Director to create one budget for the event.  Because all of the money being spent upfront is being provided by the city, the Administration believes the reimbursement of funds from the G20 will come through the city.  In order to stay disciplined to a set budget and not wind up with several million dollars in unfunded expenditures, City Council and the Mayor amended the budget – raising it to $18 million and adding a line item of all expenditures and budgets for each.

The G20 Budget Solution

The new budget is balanced through a $10 million federal grant, a $4.4 million state grant, a $2.5 homeland security grant and $1.7 million from the city’s capital budget (in case it is needed).  Moments before Council had to take action, there were two competing budgets being proposed.  Through the actions yesterday, we now have a budget, a plan and the funds to make it happen.

Check out this short clip from a keynote address “Going Green Makes Economic Sense,” given by David Gottfried at Stanford University.  David Gottfried is the founder of the U.S. Green Building Council.  Gottfried discusses how green building is being linked to the bottom line. He says that bankers and Wall Street will eventually begin to demand green certification standards because of the value of investments in green building.

Today, Pittsburgh City Council gave final approval to Councilman Bill Peduto’s legislation to create the Stimulus Oversight and Reinvestment in New Growth (SOARING) Commission.  This commission will oversee the spending of money that Pittsburgh will receive from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

If you are interested in becoming a part of this committee, you can apply online starting today!

Apply Online 

Today, Pittsburgh City Council voted unanimously to give preliminary approval to the creation of the Stimulus Oversight and Reinvestment in New Growth (SOARING) Commission.  This commission, introduced by Councilman Bill Peduto, would oversee the spending of the federal funds the Pittsburgh will receive through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

For more information about this commission, visit www.reformpittsburghnow.com.

Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette published another article focused on the process behind the passage of the new Act 47 financial recovery plan for the City.  Rich Lord’s story looks at the amendments added onto the plan by council members, and the negotiations that took place to ultimately allow the plan to achieve the 6 necessary votes.

“Last week, Pittsburgh officials passed a law that obliges the city to try to hire more minority and female police and firefighters, improve the energy efficiency of its fleet and buildings, revamp its pay structure, reuse a former police station, merge a half dozen functions with the county and much more.

Those were among the planks shoehorned by a suddenly muscular City Council into the new Act 47 recovery plan — ostensibly a 300-page blueprint to restore the city’s fiscal health by capping pay hikes and replenishing the pension fund, but now also a wide-ranging agenda, with deadlines, in ordinance form and with the state’s imprimatur.”

Read More: Pittsburgh City Council Flexes Muscle with Recovery Plan – By Rich Lord

Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette voiced their support for the new financial plan for the City, passed by City Council last week in a 6-3 vote.  

The editorial praises Councilman Bill Peduto’s work to gain support for the plan, saying that it was he “who kept everyone talking, always focused on the goal of writing not the best theoretical plan but the best practical plan, one that could get at least five votes necessary for adoption.”  

The article also emphasizes that the state legislature must now take action, and provide the Mayor and Council with the tools to fully enact and carry out this new plan for Pittsburgh.

Thank you to the hundreds of People for Peduto who emailed, called and wrote to City Council and the Mayor lobbying to do what was best for Pittsburgh.  In the end, it did get the five votes needed and the city of Pittsburgh has a new AND BETTER Recovery Plan as a result.

Recovery on Track: City Council Comes Through on Act 47 Plan